{"sf1_id":573199,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Penumbra Dreams","author":"Jinx Curi","words":1405,"posted_at":"2013-08-06T20:20:00.000Z","tags":["Dream","Male","Penumbraverse","Shark","Violence","blood","cyber","cyberpunk","sliver"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/573199-penumbra-dreams","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/573199","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=573199\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"Okay, second 'chapter' in this particular Penumbraverse tale, and one in which we get much more to grips with Sliver's character and past. I'd advise you to take a look at some of the artwork uploaded and particularly my 'Penumbra Prologue' intro, either before or after reading this if you haven't done so already, and please feel free to leave a comment for me; suggestions and criticisms are most welcome and will be read and responded to.\nMarked Adult for some mild gore and suggestive sexual themes and content.","content":"Pain.  \nIt crackled spitefully through every nerve in his body.  \nAgony.\nHe cried out - unrecognisable howls of anguish torn from his\nlips.\nBlood Red.\nThrough the blur of his failing vision, trails of glowing\nscarlet, emanating from his assailant, streaked across Sliver's vision.  Air gushed out of his maw as a powerful and\nconnecting kick to the stomach sent him reeling backwards.  A barely functioning mind tried in vain to\nsend the impulses to grab onto something to limbs that were no longer attached\nto his body.  His arms lay in a pulpy,\nbloody mess upon the alleyway decking; rendered from his torso by razor-sharp\nclaws.  He fell heavily backwards; tripping\nover the body of his equally luckless companion, and landed heavily on the\nharsh metallic grilling that formed the floor in this part of the station.  He gritted his teeth in an effort to maintain\nhis gossamer-fragile grip on consciousness. \nLifeblood oozed thickly from his ragged stumps as Sliver kicked frantically\nand fitfully at the ground in a futile effort to wriggle away.  Pitiless laughter rewarded his efforts to\nescape.  \n\"Sliver...\"\nThe voice was artificial, robotic, but still managed to\nconvey a multitude of demonic emotions and intent.  \n\"I have been waiting for this, for a long, long time...\"\nThe rolling burst of static that functioned as laughter\nfollowed, sending a chill through the Shark's tortured spine.  As the monstrosity that was Shade loomed\nabove him, Sliver closed his eyes and waited for the end.  He dimly felt a prickling sensation across\nhis chest, as if clawed fingers were caressing his body.  \n\"You will not go\nso easily, I will ensure that your death will come only after many, many agonies have been inflicted upon\nyour limbless corpse, Sliver.\"\nThe voice was little more than an ecstatic, sibilant hiss;\nit's tone promising torments beyond imagination.  Sliver screamed incoherently; as his mind\ncollapsed, and then halted in his outcry as the soft tones of a female voice\nechoed in his ears.\n\"The time is\nzero-seven hundred, local Penumbra calendar.\"\nThe fragments of his mind rallied together for brief seconds\nto ponder of the meaning behind this cryptic message.  Shade had paused in his assault, a rending\nclaw raised and a look of confusion in his eyes.  \n\"The time is\nzero-seven hundred, local Penumbra calendar.\"\nWith a barely perceptible shrug at this repeated intrusion,\nShade raised his claw higher, eyes flashing his hissed his triumph and brought\nthe claw down.\nWith an anguished moan, Sliver bolted upright in bed.  He heaved, as his mind righted itself to the\nwaking world and conscious thought.  He\nshuddered and clutched his arms across his chest, each hand clinging onto the\nopposite forearm, as a low moan hissing from his lips. The relief that he could\nfeel them was verbally palpable.  He sat\nthere for long minutes, rocking slowly in that comforting position, the scene, highlighted\nby the band of dim light that filtered into his apartment through the\nblinds.  \n\"The time is\nzero-seven hundred and four, local Penumbra Calendar. \"\n\"OFF!\"\nHis voice was thickly hoarse as he barked angrily at the\ncalm voice; the alarm app chimed in response to the command to\ndiscontinue.  Sliver wiped a cerametal-cool\nhand across his sweat-beaded face and the back of his neck, dimly feeling the\nclamminess there through the fingertip sensors, as he rubbed and massaged the\nsoreness he felt.  The bed sheet lay\ncrumpled on the floor; no doubt as a result of his thrashing around during the\nnightmare.  His mind and stomach lurched\nas a handful of remembered scenes flashed through his conscious thoughts; he\nsqueezed his eyes shut and ground his teeth down as he fought against the wave\nof panic and sickness that bubbled up within him.  Sliver rolled and blindly fumbled amongst the\ndetritus atop his bedside cabinet, scattering data-cubes and hardcopy print,\nuntil his fingers closed around the cylindrical form of a capsule\ndispenser.   Shaking, he pressed the button on the top, and\na garishly pink pill rolled out into the palm of his open hand.  Closing his eyes, he dry-swallowed it, and\nlay heavily back against the bed.  The\nwave of euphoria that the anti-anxiety drug bestowed almost instantly helped\ncalm his immediate nerves, though he knew it would be some time before the full\neffects kicked in.  He hated taking them,\nand knew he ran a dangerous risk of addiction to the quasi-legal drug.  \nI will not go down\nthat road again. \nHe knew though, that on the days when the nightmares came,\nhe needed it.  He basked in the\nsoporific warmth that chemically coursed through his system; ragged breathing\nslowing to its normal rate and his mind clearing from the fog of panic.  He pushed himself forwards from his bed,\nswinging his legs in one-smooth motion to stand naked upon the carpeted floor\nof his apartment.\n\"AC 4\"\n  He sighed softly and\npleasurably, as the air-conditioning system engaged to a higher setting at his\ncommand; tendrils of chilled air coiling around and stroking across his lithe,\nbut well-toned form.  He took several\ndeep breaths and held them, searching for his calm centre, as he released them\nslowly through flared nostrils.\nHis breathing exercises over, he pulled open the linen\ndrawer of the spartanly appointed wardrobe and retrieved a clean towel from\nwithin.  He swung it over his shoulder in\nan almost jaunty fashion as his mood and nerves began to bounce back and\nnormalize.  The events of the night, of\nthe dream, began to fade into hazy half-remembrance, where they belonged.\nSteaming hot water helped banish the last whispers of\nanxiety from his mind, as the shark showered. \nHe hummed the tune of a meme-song that had become popular again across\nthe Hyperweb and refused to leave his brain as he rubbed soap and cleansing\noils across his silk-sleek light-blue and white hide.  He bared his teeth in a grin as he languidly\nstretched, pleasurably gasping as the tension ebbed out of his bones and he\nstroked and rubbed soap suds into sensitive spots.  He wished he had more time to stimulate those\nareas, as he knew he would find it most\nrelaxing.  Showering was one of the\npersonal pleasures he most looked forward to, and never failed to arouse him\neither.  He chuckled to himself as he\npondered that fact for a moment, but there was just something about the sensation of water sprayed against his skin,\nand the steam, that he found intensely erotic. \nHe knew that many other sharks felt the same way; most shark pornography\non the slashfic Hyperweb sites and sensa-chips featured a shower scene or two,\neven if there was no actual sex involved. \n\n Reluctantly, he waved\na hand across the shower sensor, and frowned despondently as the spray of water\nsputtered to nothing.  He pushed his way\nout of the shower stall and padded across the bathroom floor and out into the\nmain room of his modestly spacious apartment. He rubbed at his damped torso\nwith the white-cotton towel, until he was comfortably dry.  His cybernetic arms, tail and fin still\nglistened with moisture, but he paid it no care; such limbs were proofed\nagainst exposure to liquids, even when directly submerged.  He hummed and clicked to himself as he\ncritically picked through his wardrobe, emitting a soft 'ahh!' when his eye\ncaught sight of the perfect casual outfit. \nHe still had several hours to kill before his next meeting with Ms Helene;\nhis stomach growled responsively as he thought about food and breakfast.  He pulled on the white nylon t-shirt and\ntailored jeans, some articles of clothing\nnever seemed to go out of fashion, he mused to himself as he padded back\nover and critically examined himself in the bathroom mirror.  He combed his mop of blue hair, opened his maw\nwide, and carefully brushed his twin rows of long, razor-sharp teeth.  He nodded in satisfaction has his morning\ncleanliness routine came to close and shrugged on his boots and pulled on his\nvisor.  Sliver stopped as he made to\nswipe the door sensor, and turned to stare at the bed once more as his clock app\nchimed eight.  Feelings of anxiety\nbubbled up within him again, before he forcefully shrugged in a dismissive\nfashion.\nSuch thoughts and feelings belonged there, not here, at the\nbeginning of a new day.  \nBack there, in the past, and in the world of dreams.\n  \n"}